1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveyance apparatus employed in an assembly line for automobiles (vehicles).
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, a composition has been proposed which comprises a carriage conveyance apparatus for supporting and conveying a vehicle body prior to assembly of the vehicle wheels, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model No. 59-2865, and a slat conveyor apparatus for supporting and conveying an automobile after assembly of the vehicle wheels, by means of the wheels, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-60002.
However, according to the conventional configuration described above, the carriage conveyance apparatus and the slat conveyor have mutually independent forms and do not have any common constituent elements. Hence, the overall cost of the assembly line becomes expensive. Moreover, since a path for returning the empty carriages has to be formed in the carriage conveyance apparatus, then not only does the apparatus become expensive, but problems also arise in that the installation surface area of the apparatus also increases, and the like.